Audax, Ditalcus and Minurus
Encyclopedia
Audax, Ditalcus and Minurus were the supposed assassins of the Lusitanian
leader Viriathus
.
In 139 BC, after a long war against the Romans
, Viriathus was killed in his sleep by Audax (Latin meaning audacious), Ditalcus and Minurus (Latin meaning diminish), who had been sent as emissaries to the Romans and had been bribed by Marcus Popillius Lenas. The Roman general Servilius Cipianus had them executed, declaring "Rome does not pay traitors". According to Appian
, Servilius Cipianus had paid them and sent them to Rome to collect the rest of the promised payment.
Diodorus says the third killer (Minurus) is called Nicorontes, while Appian calls him Minouros. Another account by Sextus Aurelius Victor says that Caepio paid two royal guards (satellites) to kill Viriathus.
Lusitanians
The Lusitanians were an Indo-European people living in the Western Iberian Peninsula long before it became the Roman province of Lusitania . They spoke the Lusitanian language which might have been Celtic. The modern Portuguese people see the Lusitanians as their ancestors...
leader Viriathus
Viriathus
Viriathus was the most important leader of the Lusitanian people that resisted Roman expansion into the regions of Western Hispania , where the Roman province of Lusitania would be established...
.
In 139 BC, after a long war against the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, Viriathus was killed in his sleep by Audax (Latin meaning audacious), Ditalcus and Minurus (Latin meaning diminish), who had been sent as emissaries to the Romans and had been bribed by Marcus Popillius Lenas. The Roman general Servilius Cipianus had them executed, declaring "Rome does not pay traitors". According to Appian
Appian
Appian of Alexandria was a Roman historian of Greek ethnicity who flourished during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.He was born ca. 95 in Alexandria. He tells us that, after having filled the chief offices in the province of Egypt, he went to Rome ca. 120, where he practised as...
, Servilius Cipianus had paid them and sent them to Rome to collect the rest of the promised payment.
Diodorus says the third killer (Minurus) is called Nicorontes, while Appian calls him Minouros. Another account by Sextus Aurelius Victor says that Caepio paid two royal guards (satellites) to kill Viriathus.
See also
- LusitaniaLusitaniaLusitania or Hispania Lusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal south of the Douro river and part of modern Spain . It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people...
- Lusitanian WarLusitanian WarThe Lusitanian War, called the Purinos Polemos , was a war of resistance fought between the advancing legions of the Roman Republic and the Lusitani tribes of Hispania Ulterior from 155 to 139 BC. The Lusitani revolted on two separate occasions and were pacified...
- PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
- History of PortugalHistory of PortugalThe history of Portugal, a European and an Atlantic nation, dates back to the Early Middle Ages. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it ascended to the status of a world power during Europe's "Age of Discovery" as it built up a vast empire including possessions in South America, Africa, Asia and...
- Timeline of Portuguese historyTimeline of Portuguese historyThis is a historical timeline of Portugal.*Timeline of Iberian prehistory*Pre-Roman Iberia *Roman Lusitania and Gallaecia *Germanic Kingdoms...
- Timeline of Iberian prehistory
- Timeline of pre-Roman Iberian history (before the 3rd century BC)Timeline of pre-Roman Iberian historyThis section of the timeline of Iberian history concerns events from before the Carthaginian conquests .-Bronze Age:*2nd millennium BC** c. 1800 BC – The El Argar civilization appears in Almería, south-east of Spain, replacing the earlier civilization of Los Millares. The adoption of bronze...
- Roman Lusitania and Gallaecia (3rd Century BC to 4th Century AC)Timeline of Portuguese history (Lusitania and Gallaecia)This is a historical timeline of Portugal.-3rd century BC:*237 BC - The Carthaginian General Hamilcar Barca enters Iberia with his armies through Gadir.*228 BC - Hamilcar Barca dies in battle...
- HispaniaHispaniaAnother theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
- Roman EmpireRoman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....